(A/N: THANK YOU THANK YOU THNAK YOU to all those who reviewed!! They make me oh so happy, without them I would never continue on. A very special thanks to Ari-chan; you're reviews always make me smile. :D And laugh hysterically, but that's besides the point. :P
This chappie is... kinda long.)
Disclaimer: I pwn Naruto... lol.
Chapter Eleven
Stranger Still
A pair of onyx orbs, slightly glazed over, looked dazed and confused, as the eyelids the dark orbs lay beneath fluttered impatiently. Sasuke groaned and rolled over, determined to fall back asleep. A loud, impatient buzz emitted from his alarm clock on his nightstand, however, forcing him awake.
The Uchiha got up and out of bed, groggily, shuffling his way to the bathroom. As he shut the door behind him, out of habit more than as a precaution for privacy, since he lived alone, and faced himself in the mirror, the young man groaned again. Beneath his dark eyes, dark circles had formed, to match. His face was flushed, pale and sweaty. His raven hair dishevelled and wild, sticking up at odd angles. His own appearance made him shudder.
I look like shit, he though grimly, pulling his navy t-shirt over his head and flinging it lazily to the side. He slid out of his boxers, and turned his back on his reflection, to reveal to the mirror a tight, pale ass. Sasuke climbed gracefully into he shower and turned on the cold water, deliberately.
His sharp intake of breath echoed against the marble floors and wall, ringing in his own ear. But as the freezing water cascaded over him, the sharp, needle like pain pin pricking every inch of his vulnerable skin faded and the water felt pleasantly cool.
The raven locks plastered themselves to his pale forehead and neck, obscuring his vision. Sasuke patiently wiped the sopping hair out of his eyes and tried to focus his buzzing mind.
His date with Sakura, he reflected, had gone well last night. Though his attempts to bring her home with him were futile, and he found himself growing impatient with her bubbly personality. His temper was getting shorter and shorter with her, causing her emerald eyes to be constantly downcast, and sparkling with tears.
Sasuke sighed, and rubbed his aching shoulder, shifting his position so that the water could reach the burning point.
Although, he reminded himself sternly, She cares so much more about me than she does herself. She'd let me hurt her if it made me happy.
Sasuke's upper lip curled into a snarl and he scolded himself mentally, Not that I would ever hurt her! Never! She's an annoying bitch at times, but I love her...
A funny nudge somewhere around Sasuke's lower navel caused him to glance down at it. He blinked confused.
I love her...
Again that nudge.
Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed a weary sigh.
But do I like her?
"...And the answer is? Anyone? Uchiha?"
But do I like her...?
"Uchiha! Sasuke! Oi! Hhuuuh, okay then, anyone else?"
"Ooh! Asuma-sensei! The answer is 3600 squared over 5."
"Thank you...ah, lets' see... question 17..."
"...So if you balance out their chemical properties, and add your mixture to the solvent, would it become viscous, or non viscous?"
"..."
"C'mon? Sasuke, would it be viscous, or non viscous?"
But do I like her...?
"Sasuke?"
"Hn."
"Argh... alright, it would be...non viscous!"
"Oi! Sasuke-teme! Wanna swap lunches?"
"Dude, I'll do it! Give it here!"
"Er... sure... Here Kiba. Sasuke-teme, Kib's got the sandwich, 'kay?"
"OOHH! P.B. AND JAAYY!"
"You're so troublesome..."
"Hey, Sasuke-kun, I got cherry tomatoes! Want to split?"
But do I like her...?
"Sasuke-kun? Sasuke-kun did you here me? Cherry tomatoes. Sweety?" (Sasuke winced).
"Oi! Teme?!"
"Pass it here, Uzumaki!"
Squeak!
Thud, thud, squeak!
"Heads up!"
Swoosh!
"Woot! Score-age!"
"Pass it to Sasuke!"
"Oi, Sasuke, heads up!"
Squeak!
THUD!
"..."
"Sasuke, you okay?"
"HA! HA! HA! Ha, ha, ha! Heh...ha... Oh, that was funny!"
"Oi teme! You're supposed to catch the ball..."
But do I like her...?
"UCHIHA SASUKE! YOU NEED MEDICAL ATTENTION AT ONCE! LEE, ESCORT UCHIHA-SAN TO THE NURSE'S OFFICE! GOOOO!"
"Right! Good...good! Okay, now the flutes!... Now the violins...Good! Alright, trombones!"
"Uchiha, care to join us? Uchiha-san? Sasuke? Hello? Someone smack him, please."
"I'll do it!"
"NO, ME!"
"Let me touch him! I mean hit him!"
"I wanna hit Sasuke-kun!"
"Bitch, Genma-sensei asked me!"
"He asked NO ONE. It was a general instruction!"
"Sasuke-kun!"
"Hey, Sasuke-kun, you there?"
"OOOH! OHH, I TOUCHED HIS HEAD!"
"Is his hair silky?"
"Is it soft, and bouncy, and volumous?"
"Uchiha Sasuke, could you please control your horde of fan girls?"
But do I like her?!?!?
Just then the bell rang, and, for the first time that day, it registered with Sasuke's head, breaking his furious train of thought. Which happened to be on a one way trip to insanity, without stopping. Sasuke jumped up, completely ignoring his fan girls, as usual, and swept gracefully out of the classroom. He stumbled slightly at the doorway, to let a thick crowd of students mill past, before stepping out into the hall. He tried to loose himself, both mentally and physically, in the throng of buzzing people. He wondered, for one wild moment, what was going on in all their lives. How they functioned, who they knew, who they were dating, what their home lives were like. The raven haired boy's heart palpitated at inhuman speed. He gulped nervously, trying to pin point just what the nagging feeling in his gut was and what it was trying to tell him. His throat felt dry and parched; it scorched the back of his throat to swallow.
"Sasuke! Over here!"
The blonde's voice flooded into Sasuke's ear like relief and as he spotted where it had came from, he sprinted over to it. Naruto's brilliant blue eyes flashed with concern, staring hard at Sasuke, his grin fading. Sasuke felt the heat rise in his cheeks and he determinedly looked away, feeling those blue eyes burn right though him, as though being x-rayed.
"You okay?"
"Hn."
"C'mon teme, what's wrong?"
"Hn."
"You're an ass, you know that?"
"Shut up."
"Make me," Naruto smirked cockily at his 'friend'. Though they really were once again, Sasuke still acted like a five year old throwing a tantrum sometimes. It made Naruto glow with pride. At least he didn't act like that...
"You sound like a five year old. Make me?" Colour flooded through Sasuke's cheeks, and his eyes glinted mischievously. Sasuke glanced back up into Naruto's eyes, to see their blue depths alive with relief. Inwardly, Sasuke sighed with his own relief that his outer mask had worked. He really did not want Naruto to see something was wrong with him, nor did he want to divulge.
Acting cool will get the dobe off my back for now, Sasuke mused, now walking in perfect step with the whiskered boy, toward Sasuke's locker. He let Naruto ramble on about his homework, and how his teachers hated him and wanted him to fail, all while keeping a straight face. He focused firmly on the door at the end of the hallway, not breaking his mask. When they reached Sasuke's locker, said boy shoved his face into it's depths, pretending to rummage around inside, while really he was breathing heavily. Sasuke let the hot blush coat his pale cheeks, while Naruto's muffled voice still carried through, outside of the locker. After his head stopped spinning, Sasuke pulled out, feeling quite serene, until his onyx orbs locked with a pair of bright emerald ones. He froze.
"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said calmly, smiling at him. Her smile was sincere, polite. Her eyes, however, flashed with malice. Their cold stare made Sasuke repress a shiver. His stomach lurched, the nudging feeling taking control.
"Sakura-chan," he managed to get out after a minute or so of battling his tongue. Sasuke, despite the horrible swelling feeling in the pit of his stomach, was quite pleased to hear that his words, not only sounded coherent, but were proper English. The buzzing in his head and his floppy tongue had been telling him otherwise.
"We heading to Babbling Brook?" Naruto piped up, sounding too cheerful. His booming voice sounded out of place in the current situation. Sasuke blinked, feeling confused.
Why is Sakura mad at me?
"Yup!" Sakura chimed in, the malice vanishing from her eyes. It was replaced by a soft glow. The tenderness that Sasuke loved began filling her orbs once more.
"Yeah, let's go now!" Sasuke squeaked, putting a little more emphasis then he had intended. His onyx orbs popped slightly out of their sockets, and he clasped a hand over his mouth, groaning. Sakura and Naruto were clinging onto each other, to prevent on another from falling, laughing their heads off.
"That's why I love you, teme!" Naruto growled, clutching his sides, tears threatening to spill over his eyes. Sakura, who was crying, nodded and choked out, "Yeah! It's moments such as these I put up with your assholeish ways." She winked at the embarrassed Uchiha, her full lips curling into another sincere smile. She straightened up, and stood on tippy toes to peck his cheek. He felt hot under her lips, so she rested her cool cheek against his, and pulled him into a hug. His muscular arms snaked themselves around her, feeling oddly tight and awkward.
Ooh, I love this boy!
Ooh, I love these arms!
Sakura grinned and buried her pink, silky head into Sasuke's strong, hard chest. She breathed in his scent, feeling slightly dizzy from it.
"AHEM! Babbling Brook awaits, you horny bastards!" Naruto screamed good naturedly, unable to suppress his foxy grin. Sakura unwound herself from the Uchiha's arms, her Inner screaming reluctantly, and readjusted the straps on her bag.
"Alright, let's go!"
The day was perfect; the cool breeze protected them from the warm sun, and the turning leaves danced brilliantly in the wind. The trees were speckled with flaming orange and red, the twisting and tugging wind giving them the appearance that the branches were on fire. As the trio settled themselves on the middle of the bridge, the brook lapping and splashing happily beneath them, Naruto pulled out his calculus homework. The groaning and scratching out sounds drowned out the noises of the brook. Sasuke sighed impatiently, smacking Naruto lightly upside the head every time a growl escaped the blonde haired boy's throat.
"Ouch! Ittai nani?!"
"You're doing it again, baka."
"Well excuse me if I'm frustrated!"
"Okay. You're unexcused."
"Nani?! You're not making sense, teme."
"Dobe."
"Teme!"
"Baka!"
"Will you two stop it for once, please? Naruto, I can't even hear the river under us. I can't hear myself think. Do ya think you could move to under a tree, or something? Please?" Sakura pleaded, her big soft orbs sparkling helplessly. Naruto's eyes glazed over as he stared into hers, as though in a trance, before shaking his head experimentally, like a wet dog.
"Sure, fine," he grumbled, then slowly gathered his things before stumbling off for the shade of a willow. Sakura and Sasuke watched as the blonde reassembled his books and set off once again for his math. Even at the distance they could see his mouth contort bitterly, pulling faces at the seemingly impossible task.
Sakura giggled, then leaned her head against Sasuke's shoulder. He winced at her touch, causing her to look up at him with concern. Before she could open her mouth to speak, the raven haired boy simply shook his head, not wanting to break the silence. He found Sakura's presence was bearable if she wasn't talking.
Instead, Sakura resorted to gazing into his eyes, with such an overwhelming power that Sasuke felt his will power crumbling. His neck suddenly felt hot, his cheeks flushed. He rested his forehead against hers, letting his breathing become uneasy. Sakura leaned in and kissed his neck, then let her lips brush against his burning skin, to stop at his ear, where she nipped playfully at his lobe. He grunted, causing her to giggle and toy with his raven hair.
Sakura decided it was best to bring it up now while he was still under her spell.
God, he really is out of it today, isn't he?
Yeah, but he's so much easier to seduce this way!
We're not trying to seduce him. We're trying to get information out of him.
Same diff.
Is not!
Is too.
Why do I argue with you?
Why don't you ever let me out to play anymore?
Huh?
Suddenly, Sakura found her one hand, playing with Sasuke's hair, clench the hairs at the back of his neck hard, and pulling him closer towards her. The other flew near to his jeans button where she started to fiddle with the fly...
A gasp escaped Sasuke's throat and he jumped back, out of shock more than anything. His dark eyes clouded over scrutinizing Sakura's carefully, and noted the shock in hers, too. She hadn't meant to have done that.
But still...Sasuke found himself wishing she'd do it again.
All of a sudden, the two teens found themselves locked at the lips, in a fiery, passionate kiss that was filled with nothing but pure lust. Sasuke ignored the impatient, mad throbbing in his navel, and the voice screaming inside his head, telling him this was wrong. His body was telling him otherwise.
Sakura moaned into the kiss, her fingers woven in his silky raven hair clenching hard, shoving her tongue deeper into his throat. Sasuke's head started to spin in protest at the lack of oxygen, but he didn't dare break their dancing of the tongues. Sakura, finally, was the first to succumb to the lack of air, panting heavily. Sasuke swayed slightly, letting his lungs fill with the cool, sharp air, his mind numbly trying to regain feeling. Sakura whipped her head to the side, silky pink locks smack Sasuke's hot face lightly. He followed her gaze; Naruto was still under the willow tree, frustratedly scratching his head. His lips were curled into a snarl.
Sakura sighed. She turned her head back into Sasuke's neck, breathing on it. Sasuke's body felt tingly and weird, and he wasn't sure if he was freaked out, or really horny.
Probably both, he settled.
Sakura, meanwhile, was battling, for once, not with her Inner, but on what to do. She was torn between too desires; jump him now and ask questions later, or ask questions now, and jump him then. She was afraid, however, what the answers would be. Not really sure if she wanted to hear them or not, she decided on option one.
"Sasuke-ku-un," she breathed slowly, taking her time to form the words in her mind, "Why don't we... go someplace, so we can talk about stuff... And Naruto...well we could drop him off at his house, then head over to yours. If you want..." Sakura's weak voice trailed off, and she looked up into his marble face. Sasuke's onyx eyes were glazed over seeing things she couldn't. Finally, just to acknowledge he'd heard her, the raven haired boy slowly nodded his head. His eyes, however, still retained their far away look. Sakura bent down to grab her backpack and Sasuke copied her.
"Oi, Sakura-chan, Sasuke, I gotta bounce. I'm supposed to meet Hinata-chan at Ichiraku's in half an hour," the voice of Uzumaki Naruto drifted over to them. He grinned shyly, then grabbed his bag, too, slinging it casually over his shoulder.
"Um...so yeah. See ya guys tomorrow," the blonde haired boy said with another foxy grin. He turned his back and started heading off the bridge, but Sasuke stopped him.
"Don't forget a rubber, dobe!"
Naruto groaned, but, under the bright orange, afternoon sunlight, his face flamed redder than the leaves swirling around his feet.
"See ya, T-E-M-E!" Naruto screamed back over his shoulder, now taking off in a sprint, emphasising each sound carefully.
When he was gone, Sakura shook her head, giggling.
"So, are we going to your place or what?"
"Hn. Yeah, let's go."
Sasuke and Sakura headed off for Sasuke's house, hand in hand, Sasuke's stomach still doing summer saults. The feeling in his gut this morning, which had lasted all day may have been strange, but this new, increased throbbing, was stranger still.
When they'd finally reached the Uchiha's home, Sakura was unusually quiet. Sasuke led the way up to his bedroom, and patted the soft, navy blue comforter beside him, indicating for her to sit down. Hesitantly she did.
"Sasuke-kun," she began in a barely audible whisper, "Why were you ignoring me all day? And it wasn't just me, you were being rude to everyone else too. IS something wrong? Don't tell me there's not, because I'll be damned if there isn't. So... please, tell me. I feel like you're shutting me out. Tell me what's wrong."
Sasuke willed himself to meet her stern gaze and did not falter when he did. Though his insides were doing the conga. His onyx orbs were the first to break their little staring contest, and he looked away, ashamed, and sighed.
"Ok... I'll...tell you."
(A/N: OOOH! CLIFFY!... okay, not much of one, but still. For all of those that review I will use my awesome fan girl-ish cunning to steal any of the Naruto characters, of the male gender, for your... pleasure. :P No really! Tell me who you'd like, in A REVIEW! YAYS!
Now I must be off to bed, (what?? It's a school night...) before my mom bites my head off.
Love, NAFG-chan!)
